DAYCARE attendance is protective against perennial allergen sensitisation, according to new research presented at the 2024 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting, held in Washington, D.C., USA, from February 23rd-26th 2024.
Researchers collected demographic and clinical measures from consenting mothers and their children in the Puerto Rican Infant Metagenomic and Epidemiologic Study of Respiratory Outcomes (PRIMERO) cohort at Hospital Interamericano de Medicina Avanzada-San Pablo, Puerto Rico. Children were monitored for their first 2 years of life, with blood samples collected for total immunoglobin E (IgE) and perennial allergen-specific IgE testing during the 2-year visit. Using regression analyses, the team explored the association of daycare attendance in the first year of life with total IgE levels and allergen sensitisation.
Daycare attendance status and allergen-specific IgE measurements were available for 435 children, of whom 96 (22.1%) attended daycare. On average, total IgE levels were 142 UI/mL lower among children who attended daycare, compared to those who did not (P=0.04). Children in daycare had 0.57 times the odds of perennial aeroallergen sensitisation (95% confidence interval: 0.33–0.97), and 0.56 times the odds of food sensitisation (95% confidence interval: 0.36–0.85), compared to those who did not attend daycare.
The study concluded that the impact of early-life daycare attendance on the development of asthma and allergic diseases could significantly influence later childhood health. This is a crucial step in understanding prevention, and potentially lowering the risk of asthma and allergic diseases in children.
